Psalm 100
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
This has always been one of my favorite Psalms. I can’t help but think of Pastor Joe Aguilar, who was not the best singer, but would use this verse as a defense for his slightly off-key vocal talents whenever he grabbed the mic after our worship service or sang loudly in the office. But Pastor Joe was right! The scripture says to make a joyful noise: not a well refined, perfectly in-tune piece of music. In fact, singing is not one of my strengths, but with practice and the patience of three different churches through the years, my singing has improved enough that I don’t cringe when I re-watch the service on Youtube. Still, God’s goodness and faithfulness demands we make a joyful noise regardless of our ability!
I know singing doesn’t excite everyone the way it excites my family (In my house you can hear music and voices blasting out of multiple rooms at any given time), but music has been developed in every human culture and it seems as if God has put it in our DNA. The Bible is full of passages that seem to confirm that we literally have the music in us - and that music needs to be used to praise God. It is my joy when I hear people singing in church - even when they are off key - because I know that they sing because they know the Lord is Good and we are his people! If hearing people sing makes me happy, imagine what a blessing it is to God who made us and deserves all of our praise.
Pastor Ray is the Pastor of Worship and Administration at First Baptist Church, Weslaco. He would like to encourage you to make a joyful noise wherever you are…but definitely come ready to make some noise and bless his name this Sunday!